Response of the Holy See, Caritas Internationalis

and other Catholic Church-Related Organizations to the Ebola Epidemic in

coastal West Africa: Crisis and Opportunities

Monsignor Robert J. VitilloCaritas Internationalis

Religion and Sustainable Development ConferenceWashington, DC – 08 July 2015

CaritasContributions of Caritas and other Catholic

Organizations at national, diocesan and local levels

While governments and inter-governmental organizations struggled to mount a coordinated response, Caritas and other religious organizations responded immediately and effectively to this crisis, at global, regional, national, and local levels by:

Training by local staff and international volunteers at Catholic health clinic in rural Dolotown

Securing, from international Church-related donors, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), medications, and funds for risk

incentive pay for staff

Advocating for greater support from national and local

governments and from the international

community

Community awareness and outreach is key

A “survivor”, Dr Fanta, speaking on Radio Veritas about her experience

Recovered patients can be important assets in Community-based training Programs and in confronting Stigma and Discrimination

Providing material and pastoral assistance to those unable to

provide for their daily sustenance

(in particular, those in 21-day quarantine)

Assisting WHO to revise what formerly was called its “Dead Body

Management Policy” into its “Guidelines for Safe and

Dignified Burials” andand Implementing them in the field

Holy See – Special Initiative in response to Ebola Virus Disease

Outbreak in Coastal West Africa

With a specific mandate from Pope Francis, the Holy See granted 500,000 Euro to enhance and expand the programs already described above. Interested donors have provided additional funds. Grants presently are being forwarded to Catholic Church-related offices in the three affected countries

What is the “comparative advantage”

of FBO responses to EVD?• FBOs are in the communities before the crisis and will be there

after the international NGOs and foreign governmental experts have left;

• We need access to funding and resources in accord with the burden of care that we shoulder’

• We treat the whole person and the whole family and there is usually no question of a “silo” approach because often we are the only service providers in the area;

• We serve without discrimination – we don’t have to ask about “gender identity” or sexual orientation or marital state – we serve all;

• Our calling to serve comes from above – as the Latin saying goes, “Caritas Christi urget nos” (“The love of Christ drives us”)

This letter to Fr. Peter Konteh of Caritas Freetown

tells it all …• It is written by Yattah, who lost her parents to

Ebola; she and her brotheralso were infected but survived. Now the famiy struggle to fulfill basic needs.